Telliamed, or, The world explain'd : containing discourses between an Indian philospher and a missionary, on the diminution of the sea, the formation of the earth, the origin of men & animals : and other singular subjects, relating to natural history & philosphy ; a very curious work.

  • Maillet, Benoît de, 1656-1738. Telliamed. English
Date:
1797
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Telliamed, or, The world explain'd : containing discourses between an Indian philospher and a missionary, on the diminution of the sea, the formation of the earth, the origin of men & animals : and other singular subjects, relating to natural history & philosphy ; a very curious work. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    [ 5' ] the fea covered, and that they were arranged or the earth by the fame means as thole which he faw in the fea. Th£ direction of the beds which compofed both, and perfectly correfponded to each other, and even the conformity 01 the fubftances of which thefe beds were formed, were to him a new demonflrati- on of his opinion. He had obferved fimilar beds formed in the fea of depofitions of fand or mud, which were arranged on each other in a manner almoft always horizontal; fometimes however the direction of thefebeds varied, when by the difpo- fition of the bottom, the currents carrying thefe fubftances were forced to fink or rife againft them, forming then their beds according to the winding of the ground, but always of an equal thicknefs. This he remarked moil generally, efpccially on the furfaces of high mountains. He found other mountains which were not formed by beds or ftrata, and in thefe he difcovered the collection of differ- ent fubftances, which he had feen formed in the fea, near the difemboguements of rivers and tor- rents, or at the foot of fteep mores. Tke prodigious number of fea-mells of all kinds, cemented to the furface of both thefe concretions, from the fea-ihore to the higheft of our mountains, as is obfervable on the coaft and in the parts adja- cent to it, was not a lefs convincing proof to him of their fabrication m the fea, where thefe fifh are produced, live and die. Confiderable beds of oyfters which he found on fome hills, others which appeared inferted into the fubftance of the moun- tains ; entire mountains of fhells fituated on the tops or fides of other hills and vallies, which were covered with them to the height of feveral feet; an incredible number of fea-ihells coming out of